Drinking bottles take on a variety of different configurations. Some bottles are disposable while others are reusable. Generally it is desirable to have a reusable bottle in that a more sustainable product is provided, minimizing the requirement for recycling methods to be implemented to efficiently utilize a bottle that would otherwise be disposable. When a bottle is reusable, cleaning and sanitation are of greater concern, as well as the corrosive effects on surfaces in contact with the water or other liquids inside the bottle, as well as exterior surfaces of the bottle. Thus, such reusable bottles are typically formed of a small subset of materials which are readily sanitizable and which exhibit little or no corrosion when in the presence of water. Such bottle forming materials are also typically selected to avoid degradation when exposed to other common environmental deterioration agents, such as sunlight and mildly acidic liquids. Also, the materials benefit from exhibiting sufficient strength to avoid damage when dropped or otherwise experiencing moderate physical loads.
While glass is readily sanitizable, it can be prone to breakage unless formed of more exotic glass materials. Plastics often do not handle sunlight particularly well and present a concern that chemicals can leach out of the plastic materials into the water over time. Many drinking bottles are formed of stainless steel or aluminum due to the relatively high degree of sanitizability and high strength characteristics of such bottles. Furthermore, such metals undergo little or no corrosion when in common environments encountered by drinking bottles.
The lids for such drinking bottles often utilize threads as a convenient manner for attaching and detaching the lid. Threaded lids are generally effective in attaching and detaching the lid and avoiding spilling of liquids within the bottle, even when the bottle is oriented in a manner that would otherwise cause liquids to escape. A typical procedure when one desires to drink from the drinking bottle involves first removing the lid, such as by unthreading the lid from the neck of the bottle, and then holding the bottle in one hand while holding the lid in the other hand and tipping the bottle to drink from the bottle. Prior art bottles, when cleaned require that the lid be off of the bottle for drying. A need exists for a system to hold the lid off of the opening to keep the lid retained while allowing the bottle to dry.
This drinking methodology is effective when the user has two hands free. However, often a user desires to drink from the bottle when only one hand is free. For instance, when a user is driving a car it is important that the user keep one hand on the steering wheel at all times. For other users a disability may limit or preclude the use of an extra hand. In such instances, once the lid has been removed from the bottle, the user must then find a safe place to put the lid before drinking from the bottle. Then the user must find the lid in this stored location and reattach the lid upon the bottle. This lid storing and finding process can be rather complex, tedious and undesirable, such that a need exists for an improved manner of retaining a lid adjacent the drinking bottle when the lid is not in use closing the drinking bottle.